Diesel is dead — here's what could replace it

(Audi) Audi h-tron quattro. Audi wants people to forget about diesel and focus on the company's next generation of mobility technology.
Until recently, Audi and parent company Volkswagen have focused much of their attention on the company's TDI diesel technology.
But with much of the sales of many of the VW Group's TDI models
suspended because of the ongoing emissions scandal, Audi has taken to
showing off new forms of fuel-efficient and environmental-friendly
propulsion.
At last week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Audi proudly
presented its e-tron quattro concept on which the company will base a
new electric crossover that will arrive in 2018.
This week at the Detroit Auto Show, Audi unveiled the hydrogen-powered follow up called the h-tron quattro.
At the heart of the h-tron quattro is a battery-assisted hydrogen
drive system. It's a fuel-cell powered car, which means it doesn't need a
heavy battery pack to store energy. It has a much longer range than a
battery-powered car, and it can be refueled in just minutes.

Audi
isn't the only company working on hydrogen technology. BMW, Toyota,
Honda, Ford, and several others are all developing their
hydrogen-powered cars.

Here's how it works

The Audi system features a stack of 330 hydrogen fuel cells capable
of generating 110kw of power located in the front of the car where the
engine would normally be found. The fuel cells are augmented by a 1.8
kWh battery pack underneath passenger compartment that jumps in
temporarily when the fuel cells need an extra boost or when they need to
recuperate.
The electricity generated by the fuel cells power a pair of electric
motors with one located between the front wheels and the other located
between the rear wheels.

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(Audi) Together,
the 406 lbs. ft. of torque generated by the system power to the h-tron
for 0-60 mph in less that 7 seconds and an electronically limited top
speed of 124 mph.
With 13.2 lbs. of hydrogen on board spread among three tanks,
the h-tron has enough juice to travel up to 373 miles on a single
fill-up. When it comes time the fill up again, the process takes about 4
minutes.
The h-tron packed with tech. At the heart of the h-tron's technology
package is Audi's autonomous zFAS-piloted driving system which uses a
series of radar sensors, ultrasonic sensors, a camera, and a laser
scanner to take over driving duties when called on.

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(Audi) According
to Audi, the zFAS system will work during stop-and-go traffic at speeds
of up to 37 mph. A production version of the zFAS system is expected to
be included in the next-generation Audi A8 sedan in 2017.
Like the e-tron quattro, the h-tron is also built on Audi's
new MLB evo platform which it shares with everything from the new Audi
A4 sedan to the Bentley Bentayga SUV. Unlike with the e-tron quattro,
Audi haven't said whether the h-tron will be adapted into a production
vehicle.